Some crafty crooks have made off with a hefty haul of scrap metal, and it's cutting into a contractor's bottom line.
Ignazio Balsamo with Oak-Wood Building is a hard working man. His latest project is a demolition job on West 8 Mile in Detroit.
He's happy to have the work, but not happy about the constant thefts.
The latest rip off job happened this past weekend. Witnesses spotted a couple of guys in a grey truck loading hundreds of pounds worth of scrap steel beams.
It was a big job that took hours to complete.
Despite it going on in the middle of the day, close to businesses and a neighborhood, the metal thieves avoided raising red flags by wearing safety vests.
Balsamo estimates the thefts have set him back $10,000.
"It really hurts. The price of scrap is down and I'm already losing money and with something like this, it's demoralizing," said Balsamo.
Click on the video player to watch Ronnie Dahl's complete report.
If you have a story for Ronnie, send her an email at ronnie.dahl@wxyz.com.
You can report illegal scrapping, illegal dumping or graffiti by calling the Detroit Police tip line, 313-235-4359 or by emailing scrapgrafdump@detroitmi.gov.
